Coaxed by Wu Ming, Hou Danxue’s emotions gradually stabilized, and she buried her body into Wu Ming’s embrace.
“Is everything you said truly the truth?”
“Of course it is true.”
Wu Ming’s hand smoothed over her lover’s head, stroking her hair.
Hou Danxue had not expected that Wu Ming had fallen for her at first sight; she had assumed Wu Ming was merely enticed by the interests she had displayed.
As for her, she truly had fallen for Wu Ming at first sight.
That night, the darkness was heavy. She had stood beneath the wall holding a lamp, looking up at the person atop the wall.
The figure was dressed in black and masked—at a glance, a thief—yet the pair of exposed eyes were unexpectedly calm and gentle.
She knew the thief had discovered her; they stared straight at one another until the maidservant beside her also looked up, at which point the figure vanished around the corner.
Though she disappeared, those eyes left an indelible mark on Hou Danxue’s mind.
At that time, Hou Danxue was in a dire situation. Her uncle had already prepared her dowry and was set to cast her out of the house in marriage within days.
She had thought to herself: she heard the young master of the Huang family was a man of letters—would he have such a pair of gentle eyes?
Then, a surge of nausea welled up within her.
She could not accept that the person possessing those eyes might be a man; she felt a physiological loathing toward men.
The Five Aggregates Sect was a matriarchal sect. Through her mother, she had received the inheritance of the Poison Lineage; she possessed both strength and ambition.
But living within a traditional great clan like the Hou family, her strength found no stage, and her ambition was suppressed. She watched helplessly as incompetent people obtained the resources she craved simply by virtue of their gender!
Upon reaching adulthood and facing the talk of marriage, she suddenly discovered she felt disgusted by intimate contact with the opposite sex.
That day was the first time her heart had fluttered, so she hoped the other party was not of the gender she could not accept.
But… did such a woman exist in this world?
The carefree heroines in storybooks did not scale walls to act as thieves, nor did they fall in love with young ladies confined to their inner chambers.
But perhaps she simply lacked experience and hadn’t heard such stories yet?
Once she rose to power, she would keep a flock of writers to pen such stories for her.
Because of that chance encounter, Hou Danxue’s heavy heart felt much lighter.
She had fallen in love with a pair of eyes. Therefore, she determined she must climb to the peak, embrace power, and then find the person who possessed those eyes.
If it were a man, she would kill him. If it were a woman, she would keep her in the back courtyard for her own appreciation.
Wu Ming’s initiative to seek her out was something she hadn’t expected. It was too sudden. The visitor removed her veil, revealing a face of androgynous beauty.
Hou Danxue’s first instinct was to confirm the person’s gender.
If it were a man, he would have defiled the image of those eyes in her heart; he would have to die.
At such a close distance, no matter how high the other’s martial arts were, it would be enough for Hou Danxue to poison him to death.
But she encountered a rare probability: the person was a woman. She was actually a woman! Hou Danxue was ecstatic.
The woman had offended her, and she should have been angry—and she indeed was—but what she thought of was pinning her down, making those eyes that moved her heart turn misty with tears.
Wu Ming had arrived at the wrong time. Back then, Hou Danxue was weak, her fate toyed with by others; she was utterly powerless to love her.
If she had appeared when Hou Danxue held power, she could have placed all the best things in the world before her beloved. But at that time, she had nothing except her status as a “decorative vase.”
So, she used profit as a lure, and later used her body to entice her into sinking deep.
Regarding the fact that Wu Ming loved her, she was very insecure.
Or rather, for a person like her, the love she craved was too much; she didn’t expect the other party to be able to afford it.
But it didn’t matter. She would take the initiative to seize it.
“You say you fell for me at first sight?”
“Madam is so beautiful; is it such a strange thing for me to fall for you at first sight?”
Hou Danxue pressed her lips tight. She was somewhat dissatisfied with this answer.
Beauty… beauty was a useless thing.
If she loved her today because of beauty, would she love someone else tomorrow for theirs?
The urge to bind Wu Ming to her side became even more urgent.
Wu Ming’s martial arts were formidable. If there were no constraints, she could withdraw from this relationship at any time, which made Hou Danxue very uneasy.
“Bring those men to me!”
“Madam?”
“How many times have I said it? Call me Head of the House!”
Wu Ming was tall. Hou Danxue had to stand on her tiptoes just to touch her face; this was too detrimental to her dignity as the Head. Instead, she settled for patting Wu Ming’s hand.
Wu Ming’s little scheme was exposed, and she felt annoyed inwardly.
The title “Head of the House” sounded cold and distant. She didn’t know why Hou Danxue was so obsessed with it.
What was her crime? She simply wanted to be a bit more intimate with Hou Danxue.
Why couldn’t they just call each other “Madam”?
Wu Ming suddenly thought of Hou Danxue’s obsession with rising to power, and her mind suddenly cleared.
She couldn’t possibly think that the title “Head of the House” sounds very ‘dominant,’ right?
Hiss… if her tastes were such, she wouldn’t mind calling her “My Lord” in private. What did a dominant title matter? When she wanted to be dominant, she still had to coax her.
Hou Danxue didn’t know Wu Ming’s inner thoughts. Her subordinates brought the men up. Hou Danxue stared fixedly at these “rivals,” gritting her teeth.
They looked very submissive, putting on the full air of concubines, indicating they would be filial to her as the “First Wife.”
“We will certainly work hard to let the Head’s Wife conceive the Head’s heir! So the Hou family will have successors!”
Hou Danxue thought she could endure much, but she was nearly fainted by the fury of that sentence.
Too shameless! They actually dared to say, with such grandiosity, that they would violate her wife to plot for her family property!
She originally thought they were just lured by profit and could die a quick death; now she wanted to cut them into a thousand pieces!
“Head of the House!”
Wu Ming nervously hugged Hou Danxue. Her face was abnormally pale, and Wu Ming was frightened.
Hearing Wu Ming’s voice, Hou Danxue turned to look at her, becoming even angrier.
She was not going to be easily coaxed!
This person before her was far too heartless. Didn’t she feel angry hearing such treasonous words? She was the only one working hard to maintain their relationship.
“Do you have no feeling at all?”
“What feeling? Could it be… they are poisoning us?!!”
Why is her head filled with nothing but fighting and killing!
Wu Ming noticed that after she voiced her guess, Hou Danxue’s expression became even more wrong. Had she guessed correctly?
These people of bizarre origins really harbored ill intentions!
“Don’t be afraid, Head! I’ll kill them right now!”
“We are wronged!”
Wu Ming’s movements were swift. By the time Hou Danxue called out to stop her, Wu Ming had already snapped one person’s neck.
The remaining people realized Wu Ming’s brutality; all their fantasies of love and fame shattered, and they retreated screaming.
“Head of the House?”
Hou Danxue walked to the corpse and kicked it dissatisfiedly. “This was too easy for him.”
She clapped her hands, and the “concubines” running wildly in the courtyard were pinned down.
With a cold face, Hou Danxue fed them poison one by one.
Since they dared to harbor such disgusting thoughts, they shouldn’t dream of an easy death.
Wu Ming watched the corpses, bleeding from their seven orifices after taking the poison—no, he was probably still alive, it must be very painful, he was still struggling.
Hou Danxue… surely she didn’t have a penchant for torture?
The person Hou Danxue held the deepest grudge against was probably Hou Chenghong, and he had only taken one pill and died instantly.
“Throw these bodies outside for public display. This is the end for anyone who dares to dream of touching my wife! Also, Grandmother is old; it is truly unsuitable for her to overwork herself. She needs quiet rest.”
Having arranged everything, Hou Danxue pulled Wu Ming’s hand and went into the inner chamber.
“Head, your actions were too aggressive.”
Wu Ming could understand Hou Danxue killing those men. She wasn’t a person who took pleasure in killing; it was only because those people had stepped on her bottom line.
Those men were merely puppets chosen by Heng Xiangyan; if they died, they died.
But Hou Danxue being so confrontational with Heng Xiangyan was something Wu Ming couldn’t understand.
Heng Xiangyan’s influence in the Hou family was too great. Hou Danxue had just become the Head; she shouldn’t act like this. Her dissatisfaction should at least wait until she was firmly established in her position.
“I grew up in this environment; I know better than you how to be a qualified Head of a great family.”
Hou Danxue stood on her tiptoes and pinched Wu Ming’s chin. “But I just want to be willful! I know the consequences of this willfulness will require me to make it up twofold in other matters, but in anything regarding you, I don’t want to yield even a single step!”
Moreover, the feeling of disgust brought by those men coveting her wife was much greater than Hou Chenghong wanting her to marry off.
She didn’t want to be disgusted again; she had to put an end to her grandmother’s little schemes.
Wu Ming’s heart felt heavy upon hearing this. She worried for Hou Danxue.
Wife and wife were one entity; if Hou Danxue lost power, she wouldn’t fare well either.
It was already difficult for them as women to establish themselves in this world, yet Hou Danxue was being so “fatuous” over these matters.
How could she not worry?
Love, indeed, easily causes one to lose their senses.
When she first saw Hou Danxue, the cold-faced girl’s eyes were full of ferocity, like an iceberg that could freeze a person to death.
But when she looked at her, the ferocity vanished entirely, leaving only shimmering watery light, as if she were acting pitifully towards her.
Wu Ming’s soul was hooked by that single glance; she had nearly slipped off the wall because of it.
Later, she had clearly lost her mind, spending great effort to break through numerous obstacles to enter the other’s bedroom, even waking her up just to warn her.
She shouldn’t have done that; it wasn’t necessary, and it was too dangerous.
Her usual caution vanished whenever Hou Danxue was involved. Originally free, she had become trapped in the back courtyard of the Hou mansion, tightly bound to Hou Danxue.
Wu Ming’s thoughts didn’t drift for long—Hou Danxue pinned her against the wall and kissed her forcefully.
Being forced to lower her neck was too uncomfortable, so Wu Ming picked Hou Danxue up. Hou Danxue, however, stopped the kiss and looked at her with eyes full of affection.
“I want to hear… the story of how you fell in love with me at first sight.”
Wu Ming’s face turned red; she couldn’t speak at all.
This was far too embarrassing.
She was usually a straightforward person, but in the matter of feelings, she was hesitant. It was almost always Hou Danxue who took the initiative to draw the relationship closer.
“Madam~ I was truly disgusted today; I want to hear something pleasant.”
“I… I already said it. The Head’s appearance is extraordinary; I have never seen a beauty such as the Head.”
Hou Danxue’s seductive expression broke. In her anger, she began to bite Wu Ming’s face.
“No…”
Wu Ming winced in pain and freed a hand to push away the face pressed against her own.
“I’ll give you one more chance! Think carefully before you speak!”
They were just fine a moment ago, why is her temper so explosive now? Wu Ming truly couldn’t understand.
She thought she had encountered a person made of snow, but the truth told her she might have provoked a fiery little chili pepper.
“You’re silent! You! You’re actually silent at a time like this!”
Wu Ming was shocked. This development wasn’t right!
She was just slow to react—how could Hou Danxue start acting so unreasonably! Since when was being slow to react a crime!
“I knew it! You don’t love me at all! You only submitted to me for the sake of the Hou family’s wealth!”
Tears were already shimmering in Hou Danxue’s eyes. Heart pained, Wu Ming leaned in to kiss her eyes.
“Head, I love you.”
“Then why did you have no reaction at all when you heard such outrageous words today?”
The matter had passed, the people were killed, but Hou Danxue still felt a heartache of rage when she thought about it now.
How did they dare! How did they dare to dream of touching her wife!
“They looked very weak; it’s impossible for me to be forced by people that weak.”
“Heh!”
Hou Danxue gave a cold laugh and yanked away Wu Ming’s hands that were holding her up.
“Head, where are you going?”
“I’m going to find someone else to be happy with!”
???!!!
Wu Ming trembled with cold rage and jerked Hou Danxue back into her arms.
“It seems I have been negligent and failed to satisfy the Head!”
“Are you angry?”
Hou Danxue looked at Wu Ming’s frustrated expression and began to laugh.
“Head!”
“You see, you also cannot accept a third party intruding between us. Tell me, if there really were such a person, would you also want to kill her?”
Having her inner thoughts picked out, Wu Ming looked slightly embarrassed.
However, she didn’t kill women. She would use her Lightfoot skills to throw that person far away… but if the person were found and returned, haunting them persistently, Wu Ming might truly break her own bottom line.
“So you also have a desire for possession over me.”
Hou Danxue’s smile grew even more brilliant. Wu Ming’s reaction satisfied her greatly, and the gloom in her heart was swept away.
“Yes! I want to possess the Head exclusively! The Head can only have me.”
Wu Ming’s hand reached downward, but it was caught by Hou Danxue.
“Wait, I haven’t heard the story of your love at first sight yet.”
“The Head… is very special. To be honest, the first moment I saw you, I noticed your cold, dark gaze. A woman who is both beautiful and ‘wicked’ hooked my heart instantly.”
When Wu Ming mentioned the word “cold,” a thick darkness appeared in Hou Danxue’s eyes.
How frightening. I hope my desire to imprison her hasn’t been discovered?